TELUS

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Template:Infobox Company
Template:Nyse | foundation = Edmonton, Alberta (1990) | location = Burnaby, British Columbia | key_people = Darren Entwistle, President and CEO | industry = Telecommunications | revenue = Template:Gain $8.143 billion CAD | operating_income = Template:Gain $1.672 billion CAD | net_income = Template:Gain $700.3 CAD | num_employees = 29,819 (2006) | homepage = www.telus.com }}

TELUS (Template:Tsx, Template:Nyse) is a telecom company from Canada, the country's second-largest telecommunications carrier after Bell Canada, with C$8.1 billion of annual revenue, 4.7 million network access lines, 1.0 million Internet subscribers, and 4.5 million wireless subscribers. The company provides a wide range of wireline and wireless telecommunications products and services including data, Internet protocol (IP), voice, video and entertainment services. It is the primary local telephone service provider (ILEC) in Alberta and most of British Columbia, as well as in portions of eastern Québec near Québec City and the Gaspé region; it competes with Bell and other telephone companies as a CLEC in many parts of Canada that lie outside of TELUS' ILEC regions.

It should be noted that while the company name is in all uppercase letters, it is not an acronym.

1 History
- 1.1 Labour Dispute
2 Services
- 2.1 Cellular Network
  - 2.1.1 Phones
  - 2.1.2 PDAs
3 Advertising
4 Corporate Governance
5 See also
6 External links

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History

The history of TELUS began with Alberta Government Telephones (AGT), which was established by the Alberta provincial government under the Alberta Liberal Party in 1907 to acquire and operate Bell Canada operations in the province, which were scant, inadequate for the growing settlements, and which the government felt that Bell had neglected in favour of central Canada. AGT was then commissioned to develop telephone services for the entire province. Edmonton, however, had a city-owned telephone utility, EdTel, that contracted for long distance with AGT.

Tensions erupted between AGT and EdTel in the early 1980s, as EdTel wanted more revenue from the long distance traffic it generated for AGT. Without any willingness by AGT to negotiate, EdTel began scrambling long distance billing records so that AGT could not bill for calls. AGT responded by routing all originating EdTel calls through the operators, who verbally requested the caller for the number they were calling from. Eventually, the companies agreed on a more compensatory arrangement.

The brand name TELUS was first used in 1990 as a new name for the former AGT after it was privatized by the Alberta provincial government. In 1995, TELUS purchased EdTel from the City of Edmonton, ending the era of government-owned telecommunications carriers in Alberta.

A new iteration of TELUS was formed in January 1999 via the merger of General Telephone and Electronics (now part of Verizon) subsidiary BCTel, the former monopoly telecommunications service provider in British Columbia, and the "Alberta only" version of TELUS. Although BCTel was the larger of the two merging companies the new entity decided to retain the TELUS name, abandoning the regional limitations of the BCTel brand, while expanding its reach to compete on a national and international scale. TELUS also moved most administration functions to Alberta to take advantage of lower taxes and a less union-oriented work force.

In March 2000, TELUS obtained a controlling interest in QuébecTel, a local service provider in southern Québec. Later that year, TELUS acquired Clearnet Communications, a digital mobile telephone provider using the same cellular network as TELUS based in Scarborough, Ontario, which it combined with TELUS Mobility to form a wireless telecommunications service provider with national scope. TELUS attempted to further expand its reach into the wireless communications sector in May 2004 when, through its TELUS Mobility division, the company made a curious $1.1-billion bid for Microcell Telecommunications (holders of Fido, a GSM network and thus not compatiable with the one used by TELUS). However, the company was eventually outbid by Rogers Communications.

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Labour Dispute

TELUS' labour dispute with the Telecommunications Workers Union (TWU) began shortly after the previous contract negotiated with BCTel before the two merged expired at the end of 2000. On April 12, 2005, TELUS made its last offer to the TWU, and on July 12, TELUS informed the TWU of its intention to bring an end to the dispute by unilaterally implementing its April offer to employees in Alberta and British Columbia, effective on July 22. The TWU set up pickets on July 21.

The dispute also had some ramifications outside of western Canada. Although the job action only covered TWU members, which were TELUS employees in western Canada only, managers at TELUS' call centre in Montreal were asked to enforce an emergency plan obligating all employees to return to work immediately. Still, the bulk of hostilities between the company and the union occurred near picket lines in western Canada.

The TWU was concerned with outsourcing and contracting out; TELUS was insistent that it needed a flexible contract. Picketers in British Columbia refused to cross picket lines, but in Alberta, the company announced on September 14 that an independent review conducted by Ernst & Young LLP had found that a majority of bargaining unit employees in Alberta had crossed picket lines and were actively working at TELUS as of August 31; the union maintained that only 20 to 25 per cent of its members in Alberta had returned to work.

On August 31, 2005, a security incident occurred outside TELUS' store at Metropolis at Metrotown, when a package with a number of wires sticking out of it was left outside the store. The entire complex was evacuated while the bomb squad investigated and found the package to be harmless.

In early September 2005, an automobile accident knocked out phone service to about 70 TELUS customers on Gabriola Island, one of whom requires a direct 9-1-1 line due to a medical condition. A standoff ensued when picketing TWU members refused to allow a specialized TELUS repair truck onto the island, with TELUS accusing the TWU of endangering the lives of its customers. The situation was resolved the following week when TELUS crews were flown to the island instead via helicopter; the crews, still, were only able to make band-aid repairs to the phone system. (The temporary repairs resulted in telephone wires being left on the ground, as workers were unable to attach them back on the poles.)

On September 7, an anthrax scare occurred at TELUS' main office building in Burnaby, when an envelope containing white powder was left on the sixteenth floor. The ventilation system was turned off and the management staff inside were quarantined before officials found the substance to be a harmless bodybuilding product. Police said they believed the incident to be connected to the labour dispute; the union, however, maintained that its BC members did not cross any picket lines and hence could not have been behind the scare (the building had been behind pickets for the length of the dispute).

Aside from the aforementioned hostilities, a spike in vandalism of phone lines was also reported, particularly in the Vancouver area; a number of areas there reported having phone or data lines cut. TELUS originally placed responsibility for the line cuts on the TWU; the union, in turn, blamed the problem on criminals seeking high-grade copper contained within telecommunication cables, which often fetches a high price on the black market. TELUS was forced to make repairs for such line cuts a number one priority, as customers without phone service could not call 9-1-1. A number of arrests were made in connection with the vandalism, although none of the suspects were TELUS employees, and similar line cuts occurred even after the dispute was settled.

Another issue surrounding the dispute was the role of Accufax Investigations International (AFI), a security company specializing in labour disputes, hired by TELUS to watch over its buildings and managers. AFI has been accused of engaging in strikebreaking in the past, and a number of incidents involving picketers scuffling with AFI guards were reported, including one well-publicized incident in which a picketer and a security guard became involved in a scuffle after the picketer put his hand in front of a videocamera the guard was operating. Security guards videotaped picketers in an attempt to enforce a number of injunctions aimed at keeping the peace around picket sites; the union, however, in several instances, accused security of attempting to instigate fights and that the videotaping was intended as an intimidation tactic.

On September 26, talks resumed between the company and the union after five months, and the two sides reached a tentative agreement on October 10. On October 30, union membership, however, voted against ratification, failing with 50.3% of voting members against. A second agreement was reached, and on November 18, 2005, the contract was ratified with 64.1% support, ending the dispute.

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Services

TELUS residential services include copper-based POTS, ADSL and IPTV services in Western Canada. Its business offerings are currently expanding to high-speed data-access lines and managed services including network management over enterprise fiber optic NGN and time-division multiplexing WAN core. One of TELUS' highest-profile clients is TD Bank.

In late 2005, TELUS launched TELUS TV, an IPTV service designed to compete with local cable and satellite TV services, in Edmonton and Calgary, with plans to expand the availability of this service to other areas of the country. However, for technical reasons, TELUS TV subscribers must also be subscribers to TELUS' ADSL Internet service.

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Cellular Network

TELUS employs the CDMA2000 standard for their cellular network, and its 3G EV-DO network has since been deployed and marketed under the name "broadband on the fly". TELUS offers music and TV services for mobile phones via its 3G network. Most, if not all of mobile phones carried by TELUS have rudimentary media features, such as a low-quality camera. TELUS has also been involved in a controversy similar to that of Verizon, where it crippled the Bluetooth function of its phones, forcing customers to access its network more often and thus increasing charges and revenue. (Verizon has since been sued for false advertising, but continues the same practice today.)

TELUS also operates a WiDEN network inherited from Clearnet, based on proprietary technology by Motorola; the service is branded as Mike and is targeted primarily at businesses, rather than individual subscribers, in part due to its Push to Talk (PTT) features. (iDEN, on which WiDEN is built, is also the basis for Nextel's service in the United States, prior to that company's merger with CDMA-based Sprint PCS to become Sprint Nextel. From a technological perspective, this merger is compariable to TELUS' acquisition of Clearnet.)

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Phones

LG 8100 (EV-DO)
Motorola RAZR V3c (EV-DO)
Samsung A840
LG 200
Samsung SCH A630
Motorola A840
Motorola V710
Motorola V265/262
UTStarcom 860
Samsung SCH A570
LG 125
Motorola V65p (PTT)
LG 4750 (PTT)
LG 535
Kyocera KX440 (PTT)
LG 6190
Motorola M800

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PDAs

BlackBerry 7130e (EV-DO)
UTStarcom 6700
Palm Treo 650
Audiovox 6600
BlackBerry 7250

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Advertising

TELUS uses the slogan "the future is friendly" as a marketing catchphrase, frequently appearing at the end of their commercials and as part of their print materials. TELUS is well known for its advertisements featuring vibrantly coloured animals against a white background. The style was derived from that used by Clearnet before its acquisition by TELUS. The campaign began in 1996 starring a red-eyed tree frog leaping free of a jar; these particular ads were intended to sell cell phones as an alternative to traditional land-based phone lines.

As of 2006, TELUS is continuing the campaign, regularly introducing variations on the original theme. The ads are generally well-received due to their pleasant, upbeat nature, as evidenced by their ongoing use. Conversely, the series can also be seen as a cultural indicator of technology versus nature, since its success rests on the appeal of the animals while the product being sold is primarily telecom gadgetry and services. (Likewise, it is an example of consumerism versus conservatism.) Some viewers also consider the ads to be creatively redundant, owing their visual and promotional style to the original ads with the Clearnet tree frog, but others seem to regard this as an excessively critical perspective on a straightforward, endearing campaign.

TELUS also sponsors a minor league baseball stadium in downtown Edmonton called TELUS Field. Built in 1995, it was home to the now-defunct Edmonton Trappers of the Pacific Coast League and is now home to the Edmonton Cracker-Cats of the independent Northern League. In Vancouver, TELUS donated $9 million to Science World, a science museum, which was subsequently renamed the TELUS World of Science.